Dozens die in Kuwait wedding fire | |
(BBC ) Sunday, 16 August 2009 02:24 UK Some 41 women and children have been killed and dozens more injured by a fire that broke out in a tent at a wedding in Kuwait, officials have said. The fire began late on Saturday evening while the women and children were celebrating the marriage at a party in the al-Jahra area, west of Kuwait City. A number of the injuries were caused by a stampede that followed the blaze, officials say, and the deaths may rise. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. An investigation has begun. 'Packed with people' Four teams of fire-fighters were dispatched to the scene, as well as a large number of ambulances needed to take the injured to hospital. Kuwait's state news agency Kuna quoted a security official as saying that 41 bodies had been recovered from the tent. The director-general of Kuwait's Fire General Directorate, Maj-Gen Jassem al-Mansouri, said that rescuers were still sifting through the debris and charred items, searching for more casualties, Kuna reports. Gen Mansouri said "the number of fatalities might increase due to the large number of injuries as result of a stampede that followed the outbreak of the fire at the tent that was packed with people". Wedding celebrations in the conservative Gulf state are held separately for men and women. Children attend the women's party. | |
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Fire broke out at a wedding in Kuwait[ 333 ]
Durango,Mexico prison riot 19 dead[ 332 ]
19 killed in Mexican prison riot
see - see All About Mexico
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -15-08-09, updated 1 hour, 27 minutes ago-
Nineteen people were killed and dozens were injured during a two-hour prison riot in the northern Mexico state of Durango, local officials said Saturday.
State and federal security forces were called in to quell the riot that began Friday at the prison in Gomez Palacio town. Television footage of the scene showed police officers, wearing bulletproof vests, storming the prison while crowds of onlookers gathered outside.
Some in the crowd threw sticks at the officers. Officers armed with machine guns gathered on top of the prison as large plumes of black smoke rose from the scene.
A representative for the state's attorney general said authorities have regained control of the prison.
Watch as bullets fly during riot »
Twenty-six people were also hurt in the riot, the official said.
CNN's Krupskaia Alis contributed to this report.
21 killed in Gaza clashes...[ 331 ]
Radical Muslim cleric among 21 killed in Gaza clashes
GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) --August 15, 2009 -- Updated 0859 GMT (1659 HKT)
A radical Muslim sheikh's call for the creation of an Islamic emirate in Gaza sparked clashes with Hamas forces that left 21 people dead and injured at least 121 others.
Members of Jund Ansar Allah surround Sheikh Abu al-Nour al-Maqdessi in Rafah on Friday.
Hamas forces blew up the home of Sheikh Abu al-Nour al-Maqdessi, leader of the radical group Jund Ansar Allah, or Soldiers of the Partisans of God, Hamas sources said.
Al-Maqdessi, also known as Abdel Latif Musa, was among the 21 dead, a hospital spokesman told CNN.
Friday's clashes were the latest between Gaza's Hamas rulers, who have said they are moderate Muslims pledged to the Palestinian cause, and more extremist Islamic groups.
Jund Ansar Allah is part of the radical Islamist movement that follows the doctrines of the "Salaf," or the predecessors -- referring to the early generations of Muslims. They reject all modern influences such as politics and government.
In a televised statement, Hamas ministry spokesman Taher Nunu called al-Maqdessi's group "outlaws" and said they have been "terrorizing the country and attacking civilians."
"We hold the group and its leader fully responsible for what is happening in Gaza and we offer our condolences to everyone who was killed during the clashes," Nunu said. "No one is above the law and we urge everyone who is a member of this group to surrender himself to the authorities or they will be accountable for all of their actions."
Don't Miss
The gunfight erupted near a mosque in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where the cleric delivered his sermon, the sources said. Hamas militants raided the mosque and seized control of it.
Later, the fighting spread to al-Maqdessi's home, the sources said.
Al-Maqdessi also called for a public meeting at the mosque, posting on the Jund Ansar Allah's Web site an invitation dubbed "the golden advice to the government of (Hamas leader) Ismail Haniya."
The group posted a statement on the Web site announcing the establishment of the Islamic emirate in Gaza and proclaiming al-Maqdessi "the commander of the faithful."
The statement declared that armed forces in Gaza should unite under him. It urged Muslims everywhere to support the "young emirate" by providing money, weapons and men because "this is the hope of the Muslim nation in raising the banner of monotheism in Palestine and to liberate all the lands and purify Al-Aqsa mosque from the filth of the damned Jews."
Al-Aqsa mosque is in Jerusalem.
The group accused Hamas of not being Islamic enough, saying they care more about pleasing "tyrants" than "obeying God."
But Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri dismissed statements about the establishment of an Islamic emirate as "theoretical."
"It is not permitted to any party or individual to enforce their own laws because this is the responsibility of the security forces," he said.
CNN's Talal Abu-Rahman in Gaza City, Gaza, contributed to this report.
Taiwan typhoon, 1,300 still trapped...[ 330 ]
1,300 still trapped after Taiwan typhoon
SHIAO LIN, Taiwan (CNN) 16-8-09 ,updated 4 hours, 46 minutes ago--
More than 1,300 people are still trapped in remote mountainous villages in southern Taiwan, victims of treacherous mudslides and floods from Typhoon Morakot, the country's semiofficial Central News Agency said Saturday.
Rescuers brave raging torrents to pull survivors from mudslides in Taiwan.
Rescue officials quoted by the news agency said 1,373 were trapped, and 75 helicopters were scheduled to conduct rescue missions Saturday in the counties of Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Taitung and Chiayi.
The storm hit last weekend, dropping 2.6 meters (102 inches) of rain on Taiwan. After hitting Taiwan, Morakot roared on to mainland China on Sunday, killing at least six people and displacing 1.4 million, authorities said.
The toll was much higher in Taiwan, where the storm was blamed for killing 123 people, according to the latest figures from Taiwan's National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission.
Mary Yu, spokeswoman for the commission's Central Emergency Operation Center, said 53 people were unaccounted for.
At least 1,375 people awaited rescue in towns inaccessible to rescuers who have faced torrential downpours, dense fog, rugged terrain and raging rivers. Washed-out roads and bridges have made some rescue operations impossible, the disaster commission said.
Despite the obstacles, 2,518 people were rescued on Saturday, Yu said.
Southern and central Taiwan were hardest hit by the storm.
Mudslides flattened some places in southern Taiwan, including the small village of Shiao Lin. Authorities believe hundreds of people could be trapped under five stories of mud in the village.
A memorial service was being held under a tent where framed pictures of the dead were crowded on tables.
"He's gone, he's gone, that one's gone, all these grandchildren are gone," said a tearful Yu Chin Chih. She lost 10 members of her family.
"We went to Shiao Lin village for the first time yesterday to look for their bodies. But then I realized there's nothing you can do. We couldn't find them," she said.
Rescuers on Friday tried to determine whether the mud there was stable enough to bring in excavators to begin searching for bodies.
Since the typhoon made landfall over the weekend, more than 31,000 people have been pulled from villages, according to official government figures.
Chen Chiu Lian, 76, who lives in Shiao Lin with her teenage grandson, Wang Hsin Hong, described the moments when the typhoon hit.
"I had just finished eating. My grandson was taking a nap. It rained and rained. There was water to my left and to my right ... The next day, it was still raining.
"Our house was like a boat. The water was like an ocean. How can you escape? There was no way to escape. My grandson told me to swim. I was swimming and crawling through the water and debris."
She said their home was the only one left in the village where about 160 once stood. The two eventually were rescued by a helicopter from the roof of the house, Chen said. They went to stay with friends.
In other remote mountainous areas of Kaohsiung County, where Shiao Lin is , rescues also have proved difficult.
Earlier in the week, the six-story Jinshuai Hotel in Jhihben collapsed into the Jhihben River after its foundations were eroded by surging floodwaters. Media reports showed the building toppling into the water with a huge splash. Those inside had already been evacuated.
'Ransom demand' for "Arctic Sea"...[ 329 ]
( BBC ) - Saturday, 15 August 2009 16:33 UK |
Ransom demand' for missing ship | |||||
| The mystery surrounding the Arctic Sea grows deeper Finnish police say a ransom demand has been made for a missing Russian-manned cargo vessel, the Arctic Sea. The demand - which has not been confirmed as genuine - was put to the ship's Finnish owners, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation said. A Finnish radio station said it had been told the 15 crew members' lives would be at risk if it was not paid. Mystery surrounds the location of the Arctic Sea, last sighted in the Bay of Biscay on 30 July. The 4,000-tonne Maltese-flagged vessel, which had been carrying timber, went off radar after passing through the English Channel. A recent sighting off Africa's Cape Verde islands is still to be confirmed. There has been huge speculation over the reason for the ship's disappearance, ranging from pirates to a mafia dispute to a commercial quarrel. The matter is being jointly investigated by Finnish, Maltese and Swedish police.
A Finnish police spokesman, Mikko Paatero, said that he was unable at this stage to say whether the ransom demand made to the ship's owners, Solchart Management, was genuine. "The police cannot really speculate," he said. "We need to base our investigation on existing criminal reports, and in this case there are reports of hijacking and aggravated blackmail." Markku Ranta-Aho, of the National Bureau of Investigation, told Finland's YLE national radio that the demand was for "a largish amount of money". He said he would not give further details or say where the ship might be located for fear of endangering the crew. Cape Verde officials say they think the ship is 400 nautical miles (740km) off one of the islands. But the Russian ambassador to Cape Verde, Alexander Karpushin, said he had not been officially informed of any sighting and told Russia's RAI news agency the information was "not true". A source linked to the Cape Verde coastguard told AFP news agency the Arctic Sea was outside its territorial waters. The coastguard was informing maritime officials about the ship's movements, the source said, adding: "When the ship enters our jurisdiction, we will decide in consultation with our partners what actions to take." Some reports have put the ship 400 nautical miles north of the Cape Verdean island of Sao Vicente. French intelligence said it had found a ship matching the Arctic Sea's description in the area. The Portuguese military would not confirm one of its planes had flown over the vessel. Last known contact Carrying timber reportedly worth $1.8m (£1.1m), the Arctic Sea sailed from Finland and had been scheduled to dock in the Algerian port of Bejaia on 4 August.
The crew reported being boarded by up to 10 armed men as the ship sailed through the Baltic Sea on 24 July, but the intruders were reported to have left the vessel on an inflatable boat after 12 hours. There are also reports of the ship being attacked a second time off the Portuguese coast. However the ship's operators said they had no knowledge of the incident and Portugal said the ship was never in its territorial waters. The last known contact with the crew was when the Arctic Sea reported to British maritime authorities as it passed through the Dover Strait. On Friday, European Union Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr said: "From information currently available it would seem that these acts, such as they have been reported, have nothing in common with 'traditional' acts of piracy or armed robbery at sea." |  SEE ALSO RELATED INTERNET LINKS The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites FROM OTHER NEWS SITES Times Online Ransom demand for missing ship - 1 hr ago ABC News Ransom Sought for Vanished Ship - 4 hrs ago Al Jazeera Ransom demanded for 'mystery' ship - 6 hrs ago MSNBC Mystery deepens over missing cargo ship - 6 hrs ago Washington Post Finland says ransom demanded for missing ship - 7 hrs ago   News feeds | ||||
It would seem that these acts, such as they have been reported, have nothing in common with 'traditional' acts of piracy or armed robbery at sea 
